In Defense of You Video-Gamers Out There (Just Read IT)

We are running this article in our next newspaper, we are doing a video games for-or-against. I'm personally not down with the whole time wasting element, but this is a freaking awesome article in defense of gaming, I have to admit. Enjoy!

The Happiest Place on Earth

By An 18 Year Old Boy

You’re walking down the hall and you see someone talking about World of Warcraft or Portal: What do you do? Make fun of them? Think they are lame? You MONSTER! Little do you know that they spend their time WAY better than you ever have.

Video Games teach you a lot of skills that are valuable in the workplace today, and are quite possibly the most powerful form of education which makes learning many of life’s needed skills enjoyable. There is also a large social element to games which give kids the advantage of learning about tolerance and other cultures. Many games are online and/or on the computer. Many have increased their ability to type drastically, before I started to play, I was typing (on a good day) 25 gross words per minute and now, thanks to these games, I type (on a normal day) around 85 per minutes with no mistakes. There are a whole lot of people who have inadvertently gained this skill simply by enjoying their hobby.

People might say that video games are causing obesity nowadays and is a really bad thing, that is totally ridiculous I demand that everyone take a look around the school, think about all the video-gamers you know, now how many of those people are fat? Maybe one, maybe. Video games and the culture around them do not create obesity; rather they encourage exercise and other such activities.

Video games can be a comforting friend. Like a puppy, they can give you worth when you feel you have none. What is more comforting than knowing that you alone have saved a lost civilization from a grim fate?! How can you feel any better? If you ask me, there is no better way to improve your mood than by accomplishing heroic tasks!

Much like you would find in a high school, video games give expertise on certain useful career options and teach you skills that you can use to your advantage in the professional world. First, there is the physical dexterity needed to be competent in video games, many studies have shown that surgeons who play video games have a much lower rate of accidents and inaccurate cuts due to the physical dexterity that they gained from their hobby. Accounting and even balancing your own checkbook is a big issue today, with many required to be able to competently plan and save their in-game cash to be able to purchase the more expensive items. For example, in the popular game World of Warcraft, there are auction houses were you can sell your items to other real players in the world. You have to know a lot about supply and demand, and also about saving and making money to be able to earn what you need. And, to make sure that this economy is as close to the real thing as possible, the developers have hired consultants to help with the creation of this economy. Don’t try to tell me this is not a useful real life skill.

Now, how many of you cannot wait for that next episode of The Office, or to find out who wins American Idol? How many of you spend a lot of time on MySpace or another similar site? What are you doing? Mindlessly sitting there WATCHING others have fun. Why not has some fun yourself? Why not interact with the environment that you are a part of? Watching TV and reading about others lives on MySpace is pathetic, not like playing video games, where you are accomplishing a goal and outsmarting an opponent.

So next time you are walking down the hall and you see me or some other person engaged in a rather excited conversation about a video game instead of thinking, “Wow, those guys are lame!” Think: “Wow, those dudes (or ladies) spend their time most wisely.”